About 86 percent of melanomas can be attributed to exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.13

Melanoma is one of only three cancers with an increasing mortality rate for men, along with liver cancer and esophageal cancer.14

Survivors of melanoma are about nine times as likely as the general population to develop a new melanoma.15

The vast majority of mutations found in melanoma are caused by ultraviolet radiation.16

Melanoma accounts for six percent of cancer cases in teens 15-19 years old.2

Melanoma is the most common form of cancer for young adults 25-29 years old and the second most common form of cancer for young people 15-29 years old.17

The overall 5-year survival rate for patients whose melanoma is detected early, before the tumor has spread to regional lymph nodes or other organs, is about 98 percent in the US. The survival rate falls to 63 percent when the disease reaches the lymph nodes, and 16 percent when the disease metastasizes to distant organs.2

On average, a person’s risk for melanoma doubles if he or she has had more than five sunburns.19

Half of all adults aged 18-29 report at least one sunburn in the past 12 months.47

Young men account for 40 percent of melanoma cases, but more than 60 percent of melanoma deaths.53

From ages 15-39, men are 55 percent more likely to die of melanoma than women in the same age group.53

An estimated 42,670 new cases of invasive melanoma in men and 31,200 in women will be diagnosed in the US in 2015.2

An estimated 6,640 men and 3,300 women in the US will die from melanoma in 2015.2

Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer for males and seventh most common for females.2

Five percent of all cancers in men are melanomas; four percent of all cancers in women are melanomas.2

From 1973 to 2004 in young people age 15 to 39, melanoma incidence among males increased by 61 percent and incidence among females more than doubled.60

Women aged 39 and under have a higher probability of developing melanoma than any other cancer except breast cancer.2

Up until age 49, significantly more women develop melanoma than men (1 in 207 women vs. 1 in 294 men). From age 50 on, significantly more men develop melanoma than women. Overall, one in 34 men and one in 53 women will develop melanoma in their lifetimes.2

The majority of people diagnosed with melanoma are white men over age 50.11

Caucasian men over age 65 have had an 5.1 percent annual increase in melanoma incidence since 1975, the highest annual increase of any gender or age group.21

Adults over age 40, especially men, have the highest annual exposure to UV.23

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an affiliate of the World Health Organization, includes ultraviolet (UV) tanning devices in its Group 1, a list of the most dangerous cancer-causing substances. Group 1 also includes agents such as plutonium, cigarettes, and solar UV radiation.25

As of September 2, 2014, ultraviolet (UV) tanning devices were reclassified by the FDA from class I (low to moderate risk) to class II (moderate to high risk) devices.26

An estimated 1,957 indoor tanners landed in US emergency rooms in 2012 after burning their skin or eyes, fainting or suffering other injuries.68

Brazil and New South Wales, Australia, have passed complete bans on indoor tanning. As of January 2014, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the UK, Iceland, Italy, Finland and Norway prohibit indoor tanning for youths under age 18.63

More than 419,000 cases of skin cancer in the US each year are linked to indoor tanning, including about 245,000 basal cell carcinomas, 168,000 squamous cell carcinomas, and 6,200 melanomas.55

More people develop skin cancer because of tanning than develop lung cancer because of smoking.55

The annual incidence rate of melanoma is 1 per 100,000 in blacks, 4 per 100,000 in Hispanics, and 25 per 100,000 in non-Hispanic whites.2

The overall average 5-year melanoma survival rate for African Americans is only 75 percent, versus 93 percent for Caucasians.2

Skin cancer represents approximately two to four percent of all cancers in Asians.36

Skin cancer comprises one to two percent of all cancers in African Americans and Asian Indians. 36

Melanomas in African Americans, Asians, Filipinos, Indonesians, and native Hawaiians most often occur on non-exposed skin with less pigment, with up to 60-75 percent of tumors arising on the palms, soles, mucous membranes and nail regions.36

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer in Caucasians, Hispanics, Chinese Asians and the Japanese.36

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common skin cancer among African Americans and Asian Indians.36

Squamous cell carcinomas in African Americans tend to be more aggressive and are associated with a 20-40 percent risk of metastasis (spreading).36

Lifetime UV Exposure in the United States

The annual cost of treating skin cancers in the US is estimated at $8.1 billion: about $4.8 billion for nonmelanoma skin cancers and $3.3 billion for melanoma.61

Between the period 2002-2006 and the period 2007-2011, the average annual cost for skin cancer treatment increased by more than 126 percent, compared to 25.1 percent for all other cancers.61

In adults 65 or older, melanoma treatment costs total about $249 million annually. About 40 percent of the annual cost for melanoma goes to treating stage IV (advanced) cancers, though they account for only three percent of melanomas.43

Pfahlberg A, Kolmel KF, Gefeller O. Timing of excessive ultraviolet radiation and melanoma: epidemiology does not support the existence of a critical period of high susceptibility to solar ultraviolet radiation-induced melanoma. Brit J Dermatol March 2001; 144:3:471.

Ferrari A, Bono A, Baldi M, et al. Does melanoma behave differently in younger children than in adults? A retrospective study of 33 cases of childhood melanoma from a single institution. Pediatrics 2005; 115:649-57.

These facts and statistics have been reviewed by David Polsky, MD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Pathology, New York University Medical Center; Steven Q. Wang, MD, Director of Dermatologic Surgery and Dermatology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Basking Ridge, NJ; Ali Hendi, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine (Dermatology), Georgetown University Medical Center; Carolyn Kim, MD, a dermatologist at DermOne Dermatology, Cosmetic & Scarless Vein Center in Irvington, Texas; and Julie Karen, MD, a dermatologist and Co-Director of CompleteSkinMD in New York City and a faculty member at NYU Langone Medical Center.